An automated method for mapping physical soil and water conservation structures on cultivated land using GIS and remote sensing techniques

Mekuriaw, Asnake; Heinimann, Andreas; Zeleke, Gete; Hurni, Hans; Hurni, Kaspar

doi:10.1007/s11442-017-1365-9

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…During the rainy season these features are masked by vegetation. It is particularly difficult to identify stone bunds during crop growth as the SWC technique (mainly stone bunds) is largely implemented on cropland (Taye et al, 2013;Mekuriaw et al, 2017). The transect line method was very fast and easy to tally gullies and SWC structures manually.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transect line method was very fast and easy to tally gullies and SWC structures manually. Unlike the automated or semi-automated technique for linear feature extraction, the manual method allows to easily visualize and identify features but it is time consuming (Mekuriaw et al, 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These maps show the density of gullies and SWC structures for every pixel, hence continuous data on gully and SWC density are now available at the catchment scale for 1935-1936 and 2014. Several studies have been made on the mapping of variables including gullies and SWC structures, based on empirical models developed, spatial interpolation from sample measurements and secondary data (reports) and automated or semiautomated extraction from images (e.g. Hughes et al, 2001;Knight et al, 2007;Amanuel et al, 2013;Mekuriaw et al, 2017). The authors of these studies mapped density of gullies and SWC structures using different data sources, methods and resolutions which have determined the accuracy of the mapping.…”

Section: Mapping Of Gullies and Swcmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia over the last 80 years

Guyassa

Frankl

Zenebe

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Gullies have been a common phenomenon in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia for the last centuries. However, soil and water conservation (SWC) structures have been implemented for a long time to curb soil erosion. Though, like most of the affected areas worldwide, density and distribution of gullies and SWC structures, their causes and interrelations are poorly understood. The aims of this study were to develop a technique for mapping these densities of gullies and SWC structures, to explain their spatial distribution and to analyze changes over the period 1935–2014. Aerial photographs from 1935 to 1936 and Google Earth images from 2014 of the 5142 km2 Geba catchment were used. Transect lines were established to count gullies and SWC structures in order to calculate densities. On average, a gully density of 1.14 km km−2 was measured in 1935–1936 of which the larger portion (75%) were vegetated, indicating they were not very active. Over 80 years, gully density has significantly increased to 1.59 km km−2 with less vegetation growing in their channel, but 66% of these gullies were treated with check dams. There was c. 3 km km−2 of indigenous SWC structures (daget or lynchets) in 1935–1936 whereas a high density (20 km km−2) of introduced SWC structures (mainly stone bunds and terraces) were observed in 2014. The density of gullies is positively correlated with slope gradient and shrubland cover and negatively with cropland cover, whereas the density of SWC structures significantly increased with increasing cropland cover. Density maps of gullies and SWC structures indicate sensitive areas to gully formation and priority areas for the implementation of SWC structures in Geba catchment. The obtained results illustrate the feasibility of the methods applied to map the density of gullies and SWC structures in mountainous areas. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mapping Of Gullies and Swcmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia over the last 80 years

Guyassa

Frankl

Zenebe

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…Information on the distribution of soil/stone bunds can be obtained using the automated terrace mapping model (which can map nearly 80% of the structures) developed by Mekuriaw et al (2017). However, the bunds were digitized from high spatial resolution Google Earth picture to map all structures.…”

Section: P-factor (Management Practices)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effectiveness of land resource management practices on erosion and vegetative cover using GIS and remote sensing techniques in Melaka watershed, Ethiopia

Mekuriaw

2017

Environ Syst Res

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Background: Land resource management measures, such as soil bund, trench, check dams and plantation had been practiced in Melaka watershed, Ethiopia since 2010. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of above measures on soil loss rate, vegetative cover and livelihood of the population. Results:The land cover spatial data sets were created from Landsat satellite images of 2010 and 2015 using ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 ® . Soil loss rate was calculated using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and its input data were generated from field investigation, satellite imageries and rainfall analysis. Data on land resource of the study area and its impact on livelihood were collected through face-to-face interview and key informants. The results revealed that cropland decreased by 9% whereas vegetative cover and grassland increased by 96 and 136%, respectively. The soil loss rate was 19.2 Mg ha −1 year −1 in 2010 and 12.4 Mg ha −1 year −1 in 2015, accounting to 34% decrease over 5 years. It may be attributed to construction of soil bund and the biological measures practiced by the stakeholders. Consequently, land productivity and availability of forage was improved which substantially contributed to the betterment of people's livelihood. Conclusions:The land resource management measures practiced in the study area were highly effective for reducing soil loss, improving vegetation cover and livelihood of the population.

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“…Some studies also included information from digital terrain and surface models (Bailly and Levavasseur, 2012;Tansey et al 2009). So far only very few studies have addressed the automatic identification of SWC structures such as stone terraces, stone walls, and stone or earth bunds (Diaz-Varela et al, 2014;Karydas et al, 2005;Mekuriaw et al, 2017) using latest VHR satellite data. Mekuriaw et al (2017) attempted to extract terraces in the Ethiopian Highlands using satellite imagery downloaded from Google Earth and without including any surface or elevation information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and classification of structural soil conservation measures based on very high resolution stereo satellite data

Eckert

Ghebremicael

Hurni

et al. 2017

Journal of Environmental Management

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Land degradation affects large areas of land around the globe, with grave consequences for those living off the land. Major efforts are being made to implement soil and water conservation measures that counteract soil erosion and help secure vital ecosystem services. However, where and to what extent such measures have been implemented is often not well documented. Knowledge about this could help to identify areas where soil and water conservation measures are successfully supporting sustainable land management, as well as areas requiring urgent rehabilitation of conservation structures such as terraces and bunds. This study explores the potential of the latest satellite-based remote sensing technology for use in assessing and monitoring the extent of existing soil and water conservation structures. We used a set of very high resolution stereo Geoeye-1 satellite data, from which we derived a detailed digital surface model as well as a set of other spectral, terrain, texture, and filtered information layers. We developed and applied an object-based classification approach, working on two segmentation levels. On the coarser level, the aim was to delimit certain landscape zones. Information about these landscape zones is useful in distinguishing different types of soil and water conservation structures, as each zone contains certain specific types of structures. On the finer level, the goal was to extract and identify different types of linear soil and water conservation structures. The classification rules were based mainly on spectral, textural, shape, and topographic properties, and included object relationships. This approach enabled us to identify and separate from other classes the majority (78.5%) of terraces and bunds, as well as most hillside terraces (81.25%). Omission and commission errors are similar to those obtained by the few existing studies focusing on the same research objective but using different types of remotely sensed data. Based on our results, we estimate that the construction of the conservation structures in our study area in Eritrea required over 300,000 person-days of work, which underlines the huge efforts involved in soil and water conservation.

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An automated method for mapping physical soil and water conservation structures on cultivated land using GIS and remote sensing techniques

Cited by 18 publications

References 18 publications

Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia over the last 80 years

Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia over the last 80 years

Assessing the effectiveness of land resource management practices on erosion and vegetative cover using GIS and remote sensing techniques in Melaka watershed, Ethiopia

Identification and classification of structural soil conservation measures based on very high resolution stereo satellite data

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